What's the best way to care for a horn handle

He's certainly not the first and no doubt won't be the last. People used to always want to take me with em places. For years they wanted to take me duck hunting, there's a couple places where they have real nice accessible blinds for derelicts. Paved, real nice. Anyone can use them but if a derelict comes along he has the right of way. They'd want me along just for the blind.

I feel so cheap and abused sometimes.
 
Hmmm.... I'm really not sure about trying to glue it shut. It's also a pretty big crack - while epoxy would be the first choice trying to get it down in there will be hard. If you do use epoxy, warming a slow cure epoxy would help. Definitely do not use a fast cure epoxy. Brownell's Acraglas is always my first choice. Not all epoxies are created equal. In general, the faster an epoxy cures, the worse it holds up over time and with shocks.

With that big of a split horn handle, there's a lot of tension in there now and I think I would fill it vs. clamping shut given how wide open it is. You can use a bunch of clamps or rope. Epoxy cures chemically and is why you mix two parts. CA (superglue) cures based on moisture in the air. In general, you have a full cure in a couple of hours if I recall right. Dry does not equal cured with epoxy or CA.

I'd put CA (super glue) in the crack and use 220 grit sand paper to put hoof material in with the glue. It will clog the sand paper fast so you will use a lot of it. Wear a breathing mask and either goggles or good ventilation as the CA glue will really irritate your eyes. There are versions of CA that can fill gaps but most soak into a crack and then need filler added.

Once the crack is full, sand up to 1000 or 2000 grit and then apply the conditioner. I usually go 220, 320, 400, 600, 800 and then I may go to 0000 steel wool depending on the look I want. I probably write this differently each time depending on the project I just did. I can tell you that if you go up to 3200 and apply conditioner then you get a nice rich black obsidian look.

Does this help?
 
Last edited:
I would not clamp the handle. It will likely only cause enough stress after curing to re-split.

Slow set epoxy is stronger, that being said I have not had a failure to bond with the 5 minute kind.
Use epoxy with 1 to 2 drops of black pen ink added. Mix in some horn or bone if you have no horn. This step is really not necessary, but will add to the look of the finished crack. Using a scraper or putty knife to force epoxy in as deep as you can.

Leave to cure. You can overfill and just sand epoxy flush or you can slightly underfill and then use gel superglue and sandpaper as roninsgrips describes to sand in horn dust from the surrounding area. THis will leave a better finish and if done properly will be almost un-noticeable.

Hyrdrate, hydrate, hydrate!
 
Well clamping doesnt seem to be a popular idea and the stress is something i did consider but surprising enough its working for me? Guess time will tell. 4 months and counting with hard use so far and no troubles.
 
<quietly takes great notes of all the awesome advice for her own future use> Thanks guys. So sad to see that tragedy Snow. Hope you are able to apply some of the ideas here to resolve the issue. Now I am off to the store to buy another bottle of mineral oil. Learning I need to soak far more than I had done in the past.
 
Thank you guys for all your advices. I'll try to fill it with slow cure epoxy mixed with a little of black ink and see how it goes.

At first, horn was my first choice of handles. Thought it was cooler. But after seeing few going "wrong", I will now favor wood over horn. Wood is more predictable and easier to hydrate and seal.

@Karda - Does this crack weaken the handle to the point to be dangerous to use the kuk?
 
snowwolf said:
Thank you guys for all your advices. I'll try to fill it with slow cure epoxy mixed with a little of black ink and see how it goes.

At first, horn was my first choice of handles. Thought it was cooler. But after seeing few going "wrong", I will now favor wood over horn. Wood is more predictable and easier to hydrate and seal.

@Karda - Does this crack weaken the handle to the point to be dangerous to use the kuk?
Click to expand...

Horn isn't really all that different from wood, just denser. As long as you take care to periodically hydrate , it doesn't need to be sealed. To answer your question: If you use the khuk hard with that crack in it, it could be a bit dangerous. Once epoxied it should be fine if you've done well. Laha is pretty tenacious stuff. It doesn't let go of anything without a good fight.
 
I agree and I think prior to getting to the dangerous level you would feel some looseness in the handle. When/if you ever get to that stage it's time to put that knife aside and go to a different knife while you fix this one.

Probably a good place for a little safety reminder, I got mine yesterday. I mowed and in the back there's a big cedar tree I mow around and the branches are just low enough they whoop me in the face as I roll under, well one made the mistake of whipping me enough to push my buttons.

Out came the KLVUK with a vengeance. Made short work of it, cut off several branches up to about 1 1/2" diameter. All over head of course which added to fatigue plus I'm not the man I used to be although my arms are still my best asset, although not much of one. Anyhow towards the end of this maybe 15 minute attack on mother natures beauty, that KLVUK jumped out of my hand, bounced off my knee/upper thigh and went to ground. I was lucky it must have hit on the flat or somehow as I didn't get stabbed cut or hurt, BUT it could have been ugly.

Controlled attack always.
 
The handle tends to loosen first. I have never seen one that snapped off all at once. You have a fairly beefy rat tail tang that goes all the way through the handle. The laha is really remarkable glue plus the tang is peened over the end of the handle plate / pommel plate. This all works together to keep stuff in place.

If I were to guess, you'd have chunks of horn handle work off vs. catastrophic failure.
 
Bawanna, I had a Geber Mk II bounce off my leg years and years ago - wow ... 30 years probably. It wasn't very long but it took 3-4 stitches in the cut just to close the skin enough to the suture the top. I'm glad you got lucky. With the mass of a khukuri, that would be ugly.

What worries me is that with my carpal tunnel I can't hold on to handles the same way I used to. I've been putting lanyards on some of my big blades and you can see them on some of the custom KLVUKs I have done too. Here's an example:

DSC_0014(9).jpg


It's parachute cord that I wrapped around the smaller part of the handle. For me, it still feels pretty good and I can get the loop around my hand and still have the cord run between my palm and the handle to keep everything snug. I've been installing keepers lately but knotting the cord to your desired length works just as well too.
 
+1 on the Laha being tenacious stuff that won't let go without a huge fight. I have lost to it recently LOL. Went about 10 rounds and it was declared winner and not even a split decision. But at least it wasn't a knock out like Bawanna almost got. Ronin's lanyard idea is a great one for folks like me who are worried about grip strength declining as I enter my not so younger ages.
 
My son and I considered the lanyard option and that's been discussed here before. My hands are going to heck suddenly and I suspect my grip isn't what it used to be. The downfall to the lanyard is if you lose your grip your swinging a nasty big blade on a string with zero control which could be ok or could be catastrophic. Not have the lanyard the blade just got tossed in the grass. Now if me and the boys are all hacking along a bank that I've wanted to hack on for many years I agree the lanyard is important to keep from flinging it into others.

I'm glad I was swinging the KLVUK and not the 20" AK, might not have been such a harmonious outcome.

I've added para cord to my must have Ford stuff along with bailing wire and duct tape so I intend to give the lanyard a try. I think making it as short as possible would be the best plan. Or perhaps short with some bailing wire and duct tape wrapped around the hand and handle? Maybe I should patent this idear before I spill the beans to yall.
 
Baby oil, which is just mineral oil, is what I use on my ivory grips. My gunstocks get flaxseed oil, which is linseed. Linseed should be good for horn, eh? I use plenty of it around the house for my stocks, knife and garden tool handles.
 
mineral oil. (Without the fragrance they use in baby oil for me.) works great for the wood and horn grips too. linseed gives them a yellowish tint.
 
Bawanna, I was thinking with the lanyard shortened up more like the way they do on the competition speed choppers when they start the lanyard on the knife forward of the hand then up over the web between the thumb and forefinger then wrap it tight around the butt of the palm so that it actually holds it into the hand. Not dangling off your wrist lol.
 
The epoxy they sell in the hardware store is crap. T-88 is the good stuff. It takes a long time to cure, but that's a feature, not a bug.
 
Sorry to dig up an old thread, but does Neatsfoot oil work well on horn handles? Or would you all still recommend I get some Hooflex?
 
guruguru said:
Sorry to dig up an old thread, but does Neatsfoot oil work well on horn handles? Or would you all still recommend I get some Hooflex?
Click to expand...

I just use regular ole mineral oil or Ballistol which is mostly mineral oil.
If you don't have a horse you dont need hoof flex and if you do have a horse you don't need much, we hardly ever use it and I got 8 hoofs.

Some even submerge the handle over night in mineral oil with spectacular results on horn handles.
 
I use Hooflex because i already bought a big bottle of it. Its mostly mineral oil anyway. Ive soaked horn in mineral oil before I bought the hooflex and I cant tell any difference except mineral oil is five times cheaper. Id just buy a $2 bottle of mineral oil and soak it overnight then wipe it clean. I brush it on my whole horn collection every three or four months or so and wipe it off the next day and seems to work fine. I dont have any new cracks and in fact some have actually disappeared.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top